University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Open Quest For Conference Crown Saturday
March 1, 2002 | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2002
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Tipoff: UNC at the 2002 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament
The University of North Carolina women's basketball team (22-7, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) opens play in the 2002 ACC Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 2, against the winner of Friday's game between No. 7 Wake Forest and No. 8 Maryland. Tipoff is 4:30 p.m. The Tar Heels are the No. 2 seed in the tournament, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend.
UNC is ranked 19th in this week's Associated Press poll, 21st in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll.
On the air
Saturday's game will be televised live by Fox Sports Net South and the Sunshine Network as part of the ACC women's basketball television package. Beth Mowins will provide play-by-play and Debbie Antonelli will add color commentary.
The game also will be broadcast live on the Tar Heel Radio Network, of which 1360 AM-WCHL is the flagship station. Stephen Gates is UNC's play-by-play announcer and Jones Angell provides color commentary. The radio broadcast is also available via the internet at www.TarHeelBlue.com.
Quick facts on UNC
2001-02 Record: 22-7 (11-5 ACC)
Current Rankings: 19th A.P., 21st USA Today/ESPN
Head Coach: Sylvia Hatchell (Carson-Newman, 1974)
Career Record: 598-247 (in her 27th season)
Record at UNC: 326-167 (in her 16th season)
Assistant Head Coach: Andrew Calder
Assistant Coaches: Tracey Williams, Sylvia Crawley
Team captains: Coretta Brown, Courtney Chambers, Jennifer Thomas
Sports information contact: Dana Gelin
Phone/email: (919) 962-0083/dgelin@uncaa.unc.edu
UNC athletics website: www.TarHeelBlue.com
UNC ticket office: (919) 962-2126, (800) 722-4335
News of note
-- UNC's No. 2 seeding in this year?s ACC Tournament is the Tar Heels' highest since 1997, when Carolina won the championship as the top seed. The last time North Carolina was seeded second was in 1994, when the Tar Heels won the ACC crown and went on to an NCAA title.
-- Carolina is 8-1 in its last nine games, with the only loss to No. 5 Duke, 90-75 on Feb. 24 in the final regular-season game of the season.
-- Senior guard Nikki Teasley and junior guard Coretta Brown both were named to the All-ACC first team this week. The last time two UNC players earned spots on the first team was in 1997, when Marion Jones and Tracy Reid both made the list.
-- Leah Metcalf, who joins Brown and Teasley in the starting lineup, was named to the All-Freshmen team.
-- Tar Heel coach Sylvia Hatchell is two wins away from recording her 600th career victory.
-- Nikki Teasley is 43-47 from the free throw line over the last five games and is shooting 87.3 from the line this season, best in UNC history. She now ranks second in UNC history with a career free throw percentage of 77.7.
-- With four three-pointers in the team?s most recent outing, Coretta Brown moved into fifth place on UNC?s career list with a total of 145. She already owns the school single-season record with a current total of 81 and is closing in on the ACC single-season record of 90, by NC State?s Jennifer Howard in 1996.
-- Coretta Brown's career three-point percentage, 37.2, is the best in school history.
Over the last eight ACC games, Coretta Brown is shooting 48.7 percent from the field, 46.3 from three-point rankge. She shot 38.1 percent from the field, 38.3 from three-point range, in the season's first eight conference games.
-- UNC has hit a school-record 201 three-pointers this season. The old mark was 188, set in 2000. The ACC single-season mark is 213, by Duke in 1999.
-- With an average of 5.2 assists per game, Nikki Teasley now leads the ACC in that category. Should she finish the season at the top of that list, she'll become the first player in conference history to lead the ACC in assists in all four years of her collegiate career. No other players has led the league in assists more than twice.
-- Nikki Teasley's current career assists average of 5.71 per game is the highest in ACC history.
-- With 224 career three-pointers, Nikki Teasley ranks sixth in Atlantic Coast Conference history in that category and is second all-time at UNC. She needs four to become Carolina's leader.
-- With 14 assists and 12 turnovers against Virginia, UNC kept its season assists total above the one for turnovers. The Tar Heels now have an assist-turnover ratio of 1.03.
-- Candace Sutton recorded the 100th blocked shot of her career last Sunday against Duke. The sophomore center already ranks fifth on UNC?s all-time list and is 13 blocks from taking over fourth place.
-- As MVP of the 2000 ACC Tournament, Nikki Teasley has been named to the conference?s Silver Anniversary Team, which includes the MVPs from all 24 previous tournaments. Teasley is the only active player on the list.
-- Sylvia Hatchell is one of 25 women's finalists for the 2002 Naismith Coach of the Year Award.
UNC's statistical leaders
Scoring: Coretta Brown (16.8 points per game)
Rebounding: Chrystal Baptist (7.6 per game)
Assists: Nikki Teasley (5.2 per game)
Steals: Nikki Teasley (2.1 per game)
Blocks: Candace Sutton (2.1 per game)
Field goal percentage: Jennifer Thomas (56.2, 63-112)
Three-point percentage: Coretta Brown (39.9, 81-203)
Free throw percentage: Nikki Teasley (87.3, 110-126)
Minutes per game: Coretta Brown (34.0 per game)
UNC players in the ACC rankings
Through games of Feb. 26
Scoring: 3. Coretta Brown (16.8), 6. Nikki Teasley (15.4), 19. Candace Sutton (11.2)
Rebounding: 5. Chrystal Baptist (7.6), 11. Candace Sutton (5.9), 16. Coretta Brown (5.2)
Field goal percentage: 8. Coretta Brown (41.1)
Free throw percentage: 1. Nikki Teasley (87.3)
Three-point percentage: 1. Coretta Brown (39.9), 2. Nikki Teasley (38.7)
Assists: 1. Nikki Teasley (5.19), 3. Leah Metcalf (4.31), 8. Coretta Brown (3.69)
Steals: 4. Nikki Teasley (2.11), 5. Leah Metcalf (2.10)
Blocks: 1. Candace Sutton (2.14)
Three-pointers made: 1. Coretta Brown (2.79), 2. Nikki Teasley (2.41), 8. Leah Metcalf (1.41 per game)
Assist/turnover ratio: 2. Nikki Teasley (1.84), 6. Coretta Brown (1.43), 9. Leah Metcalf (1.28)
UNC in the NCAA rankings
Through games of Feb. 25
Team
Fifth in scoring offense (81.5 points per game), 15th in three-pointers per game (6.9), 19th in scoring margin (13.0)
Individuals
Candace Sutton: 29th in blocks per game (2.1)
Nikki Teasley: 21st in free throw percentage (87.3)
Coretta Brown: 17th in three-pointers per game (2.8), 31st in three-point percentage (39.9)
Scouting the possible opponents
In its quarterfinal game, UNC will play the winner of Friday's first round game between Wake Forest and Maryland.
Wake Forest began the ACC Tournament with an overall record of 12-15, 5-11 in ACC regular-season play. The Demon Deacons are seeded seventh in the field.
Maryland, the tournament's eighth seed, came into the weekend's competition with a record of 12-16, 4-12 in the ACC.
The North Carolina-Wake Forest series
North Carolina leads the series with Wake Forest 46-11 after the teams split this year?s meetings. UNC won 90-68 on Dec. 5 in Chapel Hill and Wake Forest won 65-64 on Jan. 21 in Winston-Salem.
The Tar Heels also lead the series of ACC Tournament matchups, 6-1. The teams last met in ACC Tournament play in 1997, when top-seeded UNC defeated the eighth-seeded Demon Deacons 86-60 in the quarterfinals. Carolina went on to win the conference championship.
This season's matchups with Wake Forest
Dec. 5: No. 18 UNC 90, Wake Forest 68
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--In the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams, UNC led throughout the game but didn't pull away for good until late in the second half. Carolina was up by as many as 16 points in the first half, when the Tar Heels shot 58.8 percent from the field. Wake Forest battled back in the second half, however, and trailed by six, 66-60, with 10 minutes remaining in the game. UNC then went on a 12-0 run and outscored the Demon Deacons 24-8 over the rest of the game.
Junior Coretta Brown led UNC in scoring with 23 points, 18 of them in the second half. Senior Nikki Teasley, battling a sore back, came off the bench to add 18. Sophomore Chrystal Baptist contributed career-highs in points (16) and rebounds (12), while sophomore Candace Sutton and freshman Kenya McBee added 10 points each. McBee was 5-for-7 from the field and grabbed five rebounds, four of them offensive.
Wake Forest, playing without leading scorer Eafton Hill, was led by Tonia Brown with 17 points and Jennifer Johnson with 16.
The Tar Heels outrebounded Wake 51-38.
Jan. 21: Wake Forest 65, No. 21 UNC 64
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.--Senior point guard Adell Harris hit two free throws with 12 seconds on the clock to boost Wake Forest to a 65-64 victory over UNC at the Joel Coliseum Annex. The win was the second in a row and third in four games for the Demon Deacons (9-9, 3-5 ACC). Carolina (14-5, 4-3) lost for the second straight time and the third time in the last four outings.
Wake Forest led 34-23 at halftime and increased its lead to 14 points early in the second half. UNC used an 8-0 run to climb back into the game and with 1:24 remaining took its first lead of the second half, on two Coretta Brown free throws to make the score 62-61. Wake then regained the lead on a Tonia Brown layup. After Carolina missed a shot on its next trip down the floor, Wake's Harris bobbled the rebound several times before gaining control and calling timeout before falling out of bounds. On the ensuing possession, UNC?s Nikita Bell stole the ball from Tonia Brown at midcourt and went the distance for the layup as the Tar Heels regained the lead, 64-63. Harris's free throws gave WFU the advantage in the final margin.
Tonia Brown led the Wake Forest scoring effort with 16 points, including three three-pointers. Junior Tiffani Listenbee recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
North Carolina freshman Leah Metcalf posted a game-high 17 points while sophomore forward Chrystal Baptist recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. In all, four Tar Heels posted double figures in scoring as Brown tallied 13 points and Bell contributed 10.
The North Carolina-Maryland series
The series between North Carolina and Maryland is tied at 26-26 after UNC came out on top in both matchups during the 2001-02 season. The Tar Heels won 85-58 in Chapel Hill on Dec. 30 and 68-57 in College Park, Md., on Jan. 31.
The ACC Tournament series is a different story. Maryland has won all five of its games against Carolina and is one of just two teams (the other is NC State) that hold an advantage over UNC in tournament games. The most recent ACC Tournament meeting between UNC and Maryland was in 1993, when second-seeded Maryland beat the third-seeded Tar Heels 75-61 in the tournament semifinals.
This season's matchups with Maryland
Dec. 30: No. 20 UNC 85, Maryland 58
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.--Sophomore center Candace Sutton scored 18 points and guards Nikki Teasley and Coretta Brown added 16 each as UNC defeated visiting Maryland 85-58 to improve to 2-0 in ACC play. The Terrapins led by as many as eight in the first half and were up by four, 20-16, with 8:10 to play before the break when Carolina reeled off a 24-0 run to take a commanding lead.
The Tar Heels went up by as many as 34 points in the second half, when Brown scored 13 of her 16.
Sophomore guard Courtney Chambers came off the bench to contribute a career-high 12 points. Sutton and sophomore forward Chrystal Baptist paced Carolina in rebounding with eight boards each.
Jan. 27: No. 24 UNC 68, Maryland 57
COLLEGE PARK, Md.- No. 22 North Carolina held onto an 11-point lead from halftime on to secure a 68-57 ACC win over Maryland Thursday night at Cole Field House. Tar Heel guard Coretta Brown led all scorers with 19 points.
Nikki Teasley led North Carolina's charge in the first half, netting nine points while going three-for-three from beyond the arc. The Tar Heels' first-half pressure caused 18 Terrapin turnovers and North Carolina's 11 points off turnovers mirrored the difference between the teams at halftime, as UNC led 36-25.
The Tar Heels kept just far enough in front of the Terps in the second half to avoid the threat of an upset. Maryland drew within three points on three separate occasions, but the Terps could come no closer as North Carolina mounted another run each time.
March? Strickland netted 15 points in the Terps' loss. The win was the Tar Heels' lowest offensive output in a victory this season.
ACColades
Tar Heel guards Coretta Brown and Nikki Teasley were named this week to the 2002 All-Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball first team, marking the first time since 1997 that two Carolina players have been named to the five-member team. That year Marion Jones and Tracy Reid earned first-team honors.
Guard Leah Metcalf, who joins Brown and Teasley in the starting lineup, was named to the 2002 ACC All-Freshmen team.
Brown, a 5-8 junior from Statesboro, Ga., leads UNC and ranks third in the conference in scoring with 16.8 points per game. She also ranks among the league's top 10 in field goal percentage (8th, 44.1 percent), three-point percentage (1st, 39.9), three-pointers per game (1st, 2.8), assists (8th, 3.7 per game) and assist-turnover ratio (6th, 1.43). She was named to the Preseason All-ACC team and was a second-team selection last season.
Teasley, a 6-0 senior from Washington, D.C., leads the conference in assists for the fourth year with 5.2 per game. She ranks second on the team and sixth in the conference in scoring with 15.4 points per game and is just behind Brown in three-point percentage (38.7) and threes per game (2.4). Also a member of the Preseason All-ACC team, she was a second-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore and third-team as a junior.
Metcalf, a 5-7 guard from Charlotte, was the ACC's Preseason Rookie of the Year and has started all but one game for UNC this season. She ranks third in the conference in assists (4.3 per game), fifth in steals (2.1 per game) and eighth in three-pointers (1.4 per game).
In addition to All-Freshman honors, Metcalf earned All-ACC honorable mention, as did sophomore center Candace Sutton.
She makes a great point
After playing mostly on the wing early in the season, senior Nikki Teasley moved to the starting point guard spot for the Jan. 27 game against Virginia, and UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell couldn't be happier with the switch While Teasley's overall scoring has decreased, she has handled the ball well and led the team to eight wins in the past nine games.
"Nikki does a great job of facilitating their offense and finding the open player," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said following UNC's win on Feb. 21. "She playing a more settled game than she ever has at Carolina. She's a very smart player and very tough to match up with."
Teasley is averaging 6.8 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game since the move, compared with 4.4 assists and 3.2 turnovers before it. Meanwhile, she is scoring 14.4 points per game, down from 15.8 before the switch.
Teasley vs. Virginia, Jan. 27
3-5 fg (60.0%), 2-3 3fg (66.7%), one rebound, seven assists, three turnovers, two steals, 10 points, 26 minutes
Teasley vs. Maryland
4-7 fg (57.1%), 3-4 3fg (75.0%), four rebounds, six assists, one turnover, one block, three steals, 12 points, 37 minutes
Teasley vs. Florida State
8-13 fg (61.5%), 5-7 3fg (71.4%), four rebounds, nine assists, one turnover, two blocks, two steals, 22 points, 33 minutes
Teasley vs. NC State
6-11 fg (54.5%), 5-10 3fg (50.0%), four rebounds, five assists, two turnovers, 39 minutes
Teasley vs. Clemson
1-10 fg, 1-7 3fg, 11-12 ft, nine assists, two turnovers, 34 minutes
Teasley vs. Georgia Tech
0-6 fg, 0-2 3fg, 8-8 ft, 11 assists, three turnovers, 39 minutes
Teasley vs. Virginia
2-9 fg, 1-6 3fg, 10-12 ft, six assists, nine rebounds, two turnovers, 38 minutes
-- With Teasley handling the ball more, backcourt-mate Coretta Brown has flourished. She?s averaging 20.5 points over the last eight conference games and also led the team in scoring with 15 points (5-12 from the field) against Villanova on Feb. 6. She averaged 15.4 points in the first 20 games of the season.
Her shooting percentages, though, have made the most dramatic improvement. In the first eight games of the conference season,Brown shot 38.1 from the field, 38.3 from three-point range. Those percentages jumped to 48.7 from the field and 46.3 from three in the second half of the ACC season.
Mainstay in the lineup
Junior guard Coretta Brown is the only player to have started all 29 games for the Tar Heels this season, and was one of three to start all 29 last season.
After starting 10 games as a freshman and appearing in all 33, Brown moved into the starting lineup as UNC's point guard at the beginning of her sophomore season. This year, she shares guard duties with senior Nikki Teasley and freshman Leah Metcalf, both of whom have missed at least one start.
Brown has played in every game during her career at UNC, a total of 91 heading into the ACC Tournament.
-- With 23 points against NC State on Feb. 10, Brown became the 20th UNC player to hit the 1,000-point mark. She now has 1,084 for her career, 19th in school history.
-- With 81 three-pointers this year, Brown now owns the team record for threes in a season. The old record was 69, by Stephanie Lawrence in 1995.
Hatchell closing in on 600th win
Sylvia Hatchell, head women's basketball coach at UNC since 1986, started the season just 24 wins away from her 600th career victory. With 576 wins heading into the 2001-02 slate, she ranked seventh among active Division I head coaches in all-time victories.
In her 27th season as a head coach, Hatchell's career record currently stands at 598-247.
She coached at Francis Marion College from 1976-85, compiling a 272-80 record and winning a pair of national championships. At UNC since the 1986-87 season, Hatchell has a record of 326-167 in her 16th season as coach of the Tar Heels. She has led the team to four Atlantic Coast Conference championships and to the 1994 NCAA Championship.
Hatchell is the only women's basketball coach to have led teams to national championships in the NCAA, NAIA and AIAW.
Final Four action
No matter how the UNC season ends, senior guard Nikki Teasley will close out her collegiate career at the Final Four. She has been invited join the country's top seniors in competing in the ESPN Slam Dunk and Three-Point Shooting Championship at the men's Final Four in Atlanta and in the WBCA All-Star Challenge at the women's Final Four in San Antonio.
If the Tar Heels don't reach the Final Four as a team, Teasley will compete in the three-point competition in Atlanta on Friday, March 28, then fly to San Antonio to play in the WBCA game on March 29.
Teasley is one of 17 Division I players named to the WBCA roster. That squad, which will also include the Division II and III and NAIA Players of the Year, will play a game against the USA Basketball National Team.
Records fall as threes do
Led by the top two three-point shooters in the ACC, the Tar Heels have set a school record for threes in a season. The old mark was 188, set by the 1999-2000 team, and this year's team has 201 heading into the ACC Tournament.
Junior Coretta Brown is the team's top shooter and has hit more threes this season than anyone in UNC history. Heading into this season, Stephanie Lawrence held the record with 69 in 1995. Brown currently has 81, averaging an ACC-best 2.79 per game. She shoots 39.9 from long range, also a conference high, and is nine short of setting an ACC single-season record for threes. NC State's Jennifer Howard holds the current mark with 90 in 1996.
Senior guard Nikki Teasley ranks just behind Brown in both three-pointer categories (2.41 per game, 38.7 percent shooting) and is likely to pass UNC's old single-season mark herself. Her season total currently stands at 65.
Climbing the scoring chart
Nikki Teasley has done something this season that few have accomplished: she has passed Marion Jones.
The world's fastest woman scored 1,716 points during her three years as a UNC basketball player, good for 10th place on the Tar Heels' all-time scoring list. But with 15 points against Virginia on Feb. 21, Teasley moved ahead of Jones on the list and now has 1,736 career points.
UNC's career scoring leaders
1. Tracy Reid (1995-98)?2,200
2. Tonya Sampson (1991-94)?2,143
3. Charlotte Smith (1992-95)?2,094
4. Pam Leake (1983-86)?2,001
5. Tresa Brown (1981-84)?1,931
6. Kathy Crawford (1980-83)?1,806
7. Chanel Wright (1996-99)?1,805
8. LaQuanda Barksdale (1998-2001)?1,787
9. Dawn Royster (1984-87)?1,778
10. Nikki Teasley (1994-97)?1,736
Last time out for UNC
Feb. 24: No. 5 Duke 90, No. 19 UNC 75
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Alana Beard had 26 points and 10 rebounds while Iciss Tillis added 23 points Sunday as Duke rallied from an early seven-point deficit to roll over North Carolina 90-75.
Duke (24-3 overall, 16-0) opened the second half with a 26-2 run to blow away the Tar Heels and to become the second team ever to go 16-0 in ACC play.
Coretta Brown led North Carolina (22-7 overall, 11-5 ACC) with 23 points. Nikki Teasley scored 19 points to go with 10 rebounds to get her ninth career double-double for the Tar Heels.
The win was Duke's fifth straight over North Carolina and the Blue Devils' 15th straight overall this season. It snapped a UNC win streak at eight games.
Tillis scored 12 and Beard 11 in the first half to help the Blue Devils take a 45-42 halftime lead.
North Carolina led 34-27 after a 3-pointer by Teasley with 5:16 left in the first half. The Tar Heels were still up 36-31 on a baseline jumper by Brown with 4:20 remaining.
UNC scored only one basket over the next 13:42 of the game - a lay-up by Jenni Laaksonen with 16:12 left to play. UNC didn't score another point after Laaksonen's basket until Candace Sutton hit a short jumper with 10:38 left to play. Beard and Tillis each scored seven points in Duke's 26-2 run to start the second half.
Duke's win earned the Blue Devils 1.5 points in the Carlyle Cup competition. UNC leads 18-5.5 overall
